The Mask-less Tame Impala Concert; Showing an end to COVID

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Kenzo Cogswell, Staff Writer

Due to nearly 0 cases of the coronavirus present in Australia, popular artist Tame Impala was able to perform in a mask-less crowd last Friday.

On YouTube, there were several videos circulating around the internet of the musician performing that were uploaded only a couple of days ago. These videos show the man, also known as Kevin Parker, performing his songs in front of a happy and vibrant audience in a neon lit area, jumping around in clusters to the radiating hype. This is due to Australia having COVID-19 cases essentially near zero, almost, if not totally, eliminating the intimidating presence it brought. When this very news was reported on a tweet by Consequence of Sound, a music news site, many users were jealous, including Henry Westesen, who jokingly expresses his own frustrations with other countries, specifically the U.S. “Is choosing whether to take Covid seriously just a global version of the Stanford marshmallow experiment and America is the kid who couldn’t restrain themselves?” he said.

Australia’s specific situation regarding the coronavirus is interesting in itself,
especially since it is on the opposite side of the spectrum from the United States, which is still struggling with containing the virus, and the events that spread it. Messy distribution of the vaccine and the occurrence of popular events like the Super Bowl in spite of the massive and growing virus numbers have left many saddened at the everlasting lifespan of the virus. Another twitter user, Kaijia, expresses her sadness under a quote tweet by popular music reviewer Anthony Fantano. “God this hurts. Why can’t America get it together?” she says.

Despite all the rising jealousy emanating from this event, what has been able to happen in Australia shows itself as a gleam of hope for the rest of the world. On of my past stories involved COVID-19’s effect on the live music industry, and how many people would be awaiting the day they can be out in the crowds again. It seems that with this Tame Impala concert, that day has come now, if only for a small continental percentage of the world. On another Consequences of Sound article, coronavirus specialist Dr. Anthony Fauci provides a timeframe for the end of the concert-less era for the United States, stating that “…by the time we get to the early to mid-fall, you can have people feeling safe performing onstage as well as people in the audience.”

While it may be terrible to stay in our homes while others get to see their favorite personalities perform on the big stage, many would agree that patience is the only way out of this period of time. If the Australians can eliminate the virus in their land, so can we.